Curated OER
Planet Structure & Interior
Students compare Jupiter and Earth. In this Earth and space studies instructional activity, students compare the composition of Earth and Jupiter and analyze how the composition affects the rate at which the planets spin.
Curated OER
Colonizing the Stars
Students compare and contrast the size, composition and surface features of the nine planets of our solar system with the possible sizes and compositions of extra -solar planets.
Curated OER
Ocean Color
Students examine NASA's SeaWiFS Project Web site to explore how the SeaWiFS Project monitors environmental and climatic changes in the oceans and atmosphere. They answer questions and write a summary in support of continued funding for...
Curated OER
Getting the Local Scoop
Fourth graders practice interviewing professionals in their area about their careers at a local watershed. They identify at least three careers that depend on the watershed and discuss its history. They write a composition to end the...
Curated OER
Color and Environment
Students compare two abstract paintings of Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman and examine their artistic process. In this abstract art lesson plan, students consider the choices artists make using color, shape, composition, proportion,...
Curated OER
Water, Water Everywhere
In this water worksheet, students complete a five question multiple choice online interactive quiz about water. This is a more advanced quiz that includes chemistry questions.
Curated OER
Prairie Adaptations
Twelfth graders consider the survival of prairie plants. They examine how some tallgrass prairie species are adapted to the conditions of their ecosystem. They make a prediction of how a species might change given new conditions.
Curated OER
A Comparison of Cloud Coverage Over Africa
Students use a NASA satellite data to contrast amounts of cloud coverage over different climate regions in Africa. They explore how Earth's major air circulations affect global weather patterns, and relate to local weather patterns.
Chicago Botanic Garden
Micro-GEEBITT Climate Activity
A truly hands-on and inquiry based learning activity bridges all the lessons in the series together. Beginning with a discussion on average global temperatures, young meteorologists use real-world data to analyze climate trends in order...
Virginia Department of Education
Greenhouse Gas Modeling Activity
Why are greenhouse gases called greenhouse gases? Young Earth scientists learn about greenhouse gases though experimentation in the second installment of a 3-part series. They use lamps to model radiant energy as well...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Greenhouse Gas Emissions – Natural and Human Causes
Part three in the series of seven has pupils discussing the different greenhouses gases, learning about the carbon cycle, and then watching a short video about the carbon cycle. Based on their knowledge, individuals complete a greenhouse...
Curated OER
Technology Integration Project Weather Unit Plan
Students use a variety of technology-assisted weather observation tools to observe and record local weather. They identify, measure and record weather conditions, summarize types of clouds and make graphs of their observations. Students...
Curated OER
Good Vibrations Remote Sensing data Collection: Thermal Emission Spectrometer
The Mars Global Surveyor spent two years creating a mineral map of the planet Mars using thermal emission spectrometry. To help young astronomers understand this remote sensing instrument, have them simulate how data is collected and...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Historical Climate Cycles
Ice core samples give scientists access to climates of old—those from more than 800,000 years ago. Through an analysis of various temperature graphs from ice cores, tree rings, and weather stations, scholars compare historical climates...
Curated OER
Modeling the Solar System
Students build a scaled model of the solar system. In this space science lesson, students arrange them according to their distances from the sun. They analyze each planet's unique features such as density and relative gravity.
Georgia Aquarium
The Ocean's Nursery
Linear perspective, estuaries, and water ways converge in a science-inspired art project. The class uses what they've learned about eco-systems, estuaries, and the food chain to create scale models of a local marsh. While the lesson...
University of Colorado
The Moons of Jupiter
Middle schoolers analyze given data on density and diameter of objects in space by graphing the data and then discussing their findings. This ninth installment of a 22-part series emphasizes the Galilean moons as compared to other...
University of Colorado
Can Photosynthesis Occur at Saturn?
In the 19th activity of 22, learners determine if distance from a light source affects photosynthesis. Participants capture oxygen in straws and find that the amount of water the gas displaces is proportional to the rate of photosynthesis.
University of Colorado
The Moons of Jupiter
Can you name the three planets with rings in our solar system? Everyone knows Saturn, many know Uranus, but most people are surprised to learn that Jupiter also has a ring. The third in a series of six teaches pupils what is around...
Nuffield Foundation
Investigating Factors Affecting the Breathing Rate of a Locust
Do animals breathe faster when given more oxygen or more carbon dioxide? Young scientists observe the respiration rates of locusts under a variety of gas concentrations to answer that very question. They collect data, analyze the...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Impacts of Climate Change
Scholars become experts on the eight major impacts of climate change through a jigsaw and grand conversation. They then research and present what they learned about effects specific to their region.
Curated OER
Scientific Method Experiment: Factors Affecting How Ice Melts
Young scholars demonstrate the scientific method by conducting an ice cube melting experiment. They make predictions and observations, and conclude what factors make ice melt more slowly or quickly than normal.
Curated OER
If Paintings Could Talk: Art and Language
Middle schoolers learn about the artist Canaletto, play a vocabulary game, and create a landscape using collage technique. Background information on the artist is provided along with instructions for the game and vocabulary words to...
Curated OER
Lesson: Elizabeth Peyton: The Self in the Other's Image: Portraiture and Identity
Art, identity, and an imaginary community, three components that should make for an interesting activity. Critical thinkers explore and evaluate the work of contemporary artist, Elizabeth Peyton. They discuss her use of subject and art...